The Solar Cycle
Solar maximum is the term for the maximum in solar
activity that takes place approximately every eleven years;
solar minimum is the lowest point of solar activity.
The last solar maximum was in 2001.Solar events can interact and interfere with each other, creating a very complex system. Their frequency varies with time. The smaller flares tend to follow the eleven year cycle and peak at several tens of flares per day. The largest flares usually occur only a few times during solar maximum. Sunspots increase with solar maximum, and are relatively rare during solar quiet times. Coronal holes do not last as long during solar maximum.
Monthly averages of the sunspot numbers show that the number of sunspots visible on the Sun waxes, during solar maximum and wanes, solar minimum with an approximate 11-year cycle. Image courtesy of David Hathaway, NASA MSFC.
More about sunspots and the solar cycle...
Back to Solar Activity
Solar Cycles in the News:
May 6, 2012: Climatic
effects of a solar minimum -- Eurekalert
April 20, 2012: Hinode and SOHO paint an asymmetrical picture of the sun -- Eurekalert
April 19, 2012: Here comes solar maxiumum -- NASA ScienceCasts
April 11, 2012: Interplanetary turbulence during the recent protracted solar minimum -- ACE News
March 19, 2012: Solar cycle abundance variations in corotating interaction regions -- ACE News
December 19, 2011: Dropping coronal temperatures in the protracted Cycle 23-24 solar minimum -- ACE News
October 27, 2011: Solar cycle primer -- NASA
July 4, 2011: What's going on with the sun? -- Physics World
June 15, 2011: Drop in sun's activity expected -- Astrobiology
June 14, 2011: New insights on how solar minimums affect Earth -- NASA
April 18, 2011: Slow start to solar cycle -- Astrobiology
April 14, 2011: Solar activity heats up -- Science@NASA
March 6, 2011: Solving the mystery of the spotless sun -- Astrobiology
November 23, 2010: Anomalous cosmic ray behavior at 1 AU during the unusual solar minimum -- ACE News
October 6, 2010: Sun's impact on climate change overestimated? -- National Geographic
October 6, 2010: Declining solar activity linked to recent warming -- Nature
August 26, 2010: Distant star's sound waves reveal cycle simlar to sun -- NSF
August 12, 2010: Extended period of lower solar activity linked to changes in sun's conveyor belt -- NSF
June 9, 2010: Orange sun simmering -- APOD
May 27, 2010: Solar scientists agree that the sun's recent behavior is odd, but the explanation remains elusive -- Scientific American
May 10, 2010: Large eruptive prominence movie from SDO -- APOD
April 8, 2010: The Sun erupts from its lengthy slumber -- ACE News
March 30, 2010: The Sun comes back to life -- ESA
March 12, 2010: Solar 'current of fire' speeds up -- Science@NASA
February 26, 2010: A quiet Sun won't save us from global warming -- New Scientist (NASA's Global Climate Change website)
December 17, 2009: Quiet Sun means cooling of Earth's upper atmosphere -- NASA
November 17, 2009: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory investigates the Sun's cycle of highs and lows -- NASA
November 12, 2009: Distant stars shed light on the solar cycle -- Physics World
October 6, 2009: Sun down: High-energy cosmic rays reach a Space Age peak -- Scientific American
September 29, 2009: Space radation hits record high -- New Scientist
September 28, 2009: Cosmic rays hit space age high -- NASA
September 23, 2009: The Sun could be heading into period of extended calm -- Physics World
September 17, 2009: More to solar cycle than sunspots -- NSF
September 5, 2009: Stratosphere cycles with the Sun -- Astrobiology
September 3, 2009: Are sunspots disappearing? -- Science@NASA
September 2, 2009: Mount Wilson Observatory: View from the mountaintop -- Astronomy.com
August 27, 2009: Connections among solar cycle, stratosphere and ocean discovered -- NSF
July 20, 2009: Is the Sun missing its spots? -- NY Times
July 20, 2009: Solar cycle linked to global climate, drives events simlar to El Nino and La Nina -- Astronomy.com
July 6, 2009: Sunspot activity ramping up out of deep slumber -- Scientific American
June 17, 2009: Mystery of the missing sunspots, solved? -- Science@NASA
June 12, 2009: Solar activity to have lowest high in 90 years? -- National Geographic
June 4, 2009: Sunspots on a cloudy day -- APOD
May 29, 2009: New solar cycle prediction -- Science@NASA
May 22, 2009: Giant balloon flying high over Atlantic to catch cosmic rays -- Science Daily
May 15, 2009: STEREO spies first major activity of Solar Cycle 24 -- NASA
May 8, 2009: Sun entering weakest cycle since 1928 -- Science News
May 7, 2009: Solar activity starting to perk up? -- Scientific American
May 4, 2009: Sun oddly quiet -- hints at next "Little Ice Age"? -- National Geographic
April 6, 2009: Serene Sun -- HEAPOW
April 1, 2009: How low can it go? Sun plunges into the quietist solar minimum in a century -- NASA
April 1, 2009: Deep solar minimum -- Science@NASA
December 15, 2008: Space has never been closer -- NASA
December 10, 2008: Sun's cycles can forecast floods, drought? -- National Geographic
November 14, 2008: Solar cycle variations in observed galactic cosmic ray composition -- ACE News
November 7, 2008: The Sun shows signs of life -- Science@NASA
October 13, 2008: Spotless -- HEAPOW
September 24, 2008: Active Region 1002 on an unusually quiet Sun -- APOD
July 11, 2008: What's wrong with the sun? (Nothing) -- Science@NASA
June 9, 2008: Sun goes longer than normal without producing sunspots -- Science Daily
March 31, 2008: Old solar cycle returns -- ESA
March 31, 2008: Cycle 23 redux -- HEAPOW
February 6, 2008: A sunspot in the new solar cycle -- APOD
January 14, 2008: Ulysses spacecraft flies over Sun's north pole -- NASA JPL
January 14, 2008: SOHO: The new solar cycle starts with a 'bang' -- ESA
January 7, 2008: 'Maverick' sunspot heralds new solar cycle -- New Scientist
December 14, 2007: Is a new solar cycle beginning? -- Science@NASA
December 3, 2007: A complete solar cycle from SOHO -- APOD
November 14, 2007: Regional variation in warming from Sun during solar cycle shown by satellite -- Science Daily
August 31, 2007: Celebrating 10 years of ACE in space -- ACE News
July 11, 2007: Study clears Sun of global warming -- Australian Broadcasting Company
May 25, 2007: Astrophysicists find fractal image of Sun's 'storm season' imprinted on solar wind -- EurekAlert!
April 27, 2007: NOAA announces next solar storm cycle will likely start next March -- EurekAlert!
April 25, 2007: The quest to predict the next space "hurricane" season -- NASA GSFC
February 23, 2007: Sol sister -- SpaceDaily
April 20, 2012: Hinode and SOHO paint an asymmetrical picture of the sun -- Eurekalert
April 19, 2012: Here comes solar maxiumum -- NASA ScienceCasts
April 11, 2012: Interplanetary turbulence during the recent protracted solar minimum -- ACE News
March 19, 2012: Solar cycle abundance variations in corotating interaction regions -- ACE News
December 19, 2011: Dropping coronal temperatures in the protracted Cycle 23-24 solar minimum -- ACE News
October 27, 2011: Solar cycle primer -- NASA
July 4, 2011: What's going on with the sun? -- Physics World
June 15, 2011: Drop in sun's activity expected -- Astrobiology
June 14, 2011: New insights on how solar minimums affect Earth -- NASA
April 18, 2011: Slow start to solar cycle -- Astrobiology
April 14, 2011: Solar activity heats up -- Science@NASA
March 6, 2011: Solving the mystery of the spotless sun -- Astrobiology
November 23, 2010: Anomalous cosmic ray behavior at 1 AU during the unusual solar minimum -- ACE News
October 6, 2010: Sun's impact on climate change overestimated? -- National Geographic
October 6, 2010: Declining solar activity linked to recent warming -- Nature
August 26, 2010: Distant star's sound waves reveal cycle simlar to sun -- NSF
August 12, 2010: Extended period of lower solar activity linked to changes in sun's conveyor belt -- NSF
June 9, 2010: Orange sun simmering -- APOD
May 27, 2010: Solar scientists agree that the sun's recent behavior is odd, but the explanation remains elusive -- Scientific American
May 10, 2010: Large eruptive prominence movie from SDO -- APOD
April 8, 2010: The Sun erupts from its lengthy slumber -- ACE News
March 30, 2010: The Sun comes back to life -- ESA
March 12, 2010: Solar 'current of fire' speeds up -- Science@NASA
February 26, 2010: A quiet Sun won't save us from global warming -- New Scientist (NASA's Global Climate Change website)
December 17, 2009: Quiet Sun means cooling of Earth's upper atmosphere -- NASA
November 17, 2009: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory investigates the Sun's cycle of highs and lows -- NASA
November 12, 2009: Distant stars shed light on the solar cycle -- Physics World
October 6, 2009: Sun down: High-energy cosmic rays reach a Space Age peak -- Scientific American
September 29, 2009: Space radation hits record high -- New Scientist
September 28, 2009: Cosmic rays hit space age high -- NASA
September 23, 2009: The Sun could be heading into period of extended calm -- Physics World
September 17, 2009: More to solar cycle than sunspots -- NSF
September 5, 2009: Stratosphere cycles with the Sun -- Astrobiology
September 3, 2009: Are sunspots disappearing? -- Science@NASA
September 2, 2009: Mount Wilson Observatory: View from the mountaintop -- Astronomy.com
August 27, 2009: Connections among solar cycle, stratosphere and ocean discovered -- NSF
July 20, 2009: Is the Sun missing its spots? -- NY Times
July 20, 2009: Solar cycle linked to global climate, drives events simlar to El Nino and La Nina -- Astronomy.com
July 6, 2009: Sunspot activity ramping up out of deep slumber -- Scientific American
June 17, 2009: Mystery of the missing sunspots, solved? -- Science@NASA
June 12, 2009: Solar activity to have lowest high in 90 years? -- National Geographic
June 4, 2009: Sunspots on a cloudy day -- APOD
May 29, 2009: New solar cycle prediction -- Science@NASA
May 22, 2009: Giant balloon flying high over Atlantic to catch cosmic rays -- Science Daily
May 15, 2009: STEREO spies first major activity of Solar Cycle 24 -- NASA
May 8, 2009: Sun entering weakest cycle since 1928 -- Science News
May 7, 2009: Solar activity starting to perk up? -- Scientific American
May 4, 2009: Sun oddly quiet -- hints at next "Little Ice Age"? -- National Geographic
April 6, 2009: Serene Sun -- HEAPOW
April 1, 2009: How low can it go? Sun plunges into the quietist solar minimum in a century -- NASA
April 1, 2009: Deep solar minimum -- Science@NASA
December 15, 2008: Space has never been closer -- NASA
December 10, 2008: Sun's cycles can forecast floods, drought? -- National Geographic
November 14, 2008: Solar cycle variations in observed galactic cosmic ray composition -- ACE News
November 7, 2008: The Sun shows signs of life -- Science@NASA
October 13, 2008: Spotless -- HEAPOW
September 24, 2008: Active Region 1002 on an unusually quiet Sun -- APOD
July 11, 2008: What's wrong with the sun? (Nothing) -- Science@NASA
June 9, 2008: Sun goes longer than normal without producing sunspots -- Science Daily
March 31, 2008: Old solar cycle returns -- ESA
March 31, 2008: Cycle 23 redux -- HEAPOW
February 6, 2008: A sunspot in the new solar cycle -- APOD
January 14, 2008: Ulysses spacecraft flies over Sun's north pole -- NASA JPL
January 14, 2008: SOHO: The new solar cycle starts with a 'bang' -- ESA
January 7, 2008: 'Maverick' sunspot heralds new solar cycle -- New Scientist
December 14, 2007: Is a new solar cycle beginning? -- Science@NASA
December 3, 2007: A complete solar cycle from SOHO -- APOD
November 14, 2007: Regional variation in warming from Sun during solar cycle shown by satellite -- Science Daily
August 31, 2007: Celebrating 10 years of ACE in space -- ACE News
July 11, 2007: Study clears Sun of global warming -- Australian Broadcasting Company
May 25, 2007: Astrophysicists find fractal image of Sun's 'storm season' imprinted on solar wind -- EurekAlert!
April 27, 2007: NOAA announces next solar storm cycle will likely start next March -- EurekAlert!
April 25, 2007: The quest to predict the next space "hurricane" season -- NASA GSFC
February 23, 2007: Sol sister -- SpaceDaily
Solar Cycle Activities
Grades 7 - 9: The Sunspot Cycle -- NASA IMAGE
Click on images above to
learn more about them
A service of the Heliophysics
Science Division at NASA's GSFC
Questions and comments to: cosmicopia@cosmicra.gsfc.nasa.gov
Curator: Dr Eric R. Christian, NASA
Responsible NASA Official: Dr Eric R. Christian
Privacy Policy and Important Notices
Questions and comments to: cosmicopia@cosmicra.gsfc.nasa.gov
Curator: Dr Eric R. Christian, NASA
Responsible NASA Official: Dr Eric R. Christian
Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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